US automotive companies griping that Nafta could cripple the industry
Chicago — Automotive companies are griping that the US plan to modify the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) is so strict it would cripple an industry that it’s supposed to help. No North American-built vehicle would be eligible to benefit from tariff exemptions under Nafta if the US gets its way, and the administration’s proposals would be especially bad if they’re linked — as US President Donald Trump hinted at in a tweet — to potential levies on steel and aluminium, said John Bozzella, president of the Association of Global Automakers. "This could be a double whammy. We could end up with both the tariff and an unworkable Nafta, or with an unworkable Nafta in exchange for the tariff," Bozzella said in an interview on Tuesday. "It’s not much of a bargain." In a bid to modernise Nafta and boost US manufacturing, Trump wants to change the regional content requirements, or rules of origin, that dictate where car components come from. His administration has proposed raising th...
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